Fur "plugs" that have a green scab thing on them?

doodlebugger · May 4, 2015

I don't have a picture, so I will do my best to describe what I have been seeing. The rabbit is a mini rex and he has had some chronic health issues with URI due to a problem with his nasal passages and his teeth. The teeth problem seems to be resolved after some dental work by our rabbit savvy vet. But, he is back on Baytril for the URI symptoms. As I was administering his meds tonight, I was petting him, and I noticed on the area which I call the "cheeks" of his face - just right and a little below his eye, there are these little hair plugs that are kind of fused together and they have a crusty green scab. I tried to use a wet q-tip to remove the green stuff, but no matter how much I wiped the q-tip on the areas, very little green color came off, and the hairs are still stuck together. The "plugs" don't pull out like some of his fur when he's molting. I'm just worried that they are something specific like mites or something? He hasn't really had any new symptoms since starting on the Baytril except he seems to be scratching his ear all of the sudden. I'm going to try to get him to our rabbit savvy vet within the next few days. I'm just baffled by these green scabby "plugs" of hair. I am praying they are nothing serious!

stevesmum · May 4, 2015

Could it just be from eating veggies? Sometimes my rabbit Steve gets some green around his mouth and paws from eating his greens.

doodlebugger · May 4, 2015

I thought that might be the case because he loves his greens, but they are on the back part of his cheeks - not even close to his mouth - closer to his ears but lower. And the green scabby thing is on the skin in the fur, and it's not on the surface of his fur. It's possible that he ate greens and when he is cleaning his face, that he's depositing something there. I think just because he has a chronic health problem with URI's and teeth, we will get our vet to check it out just to be on the safe side. I was just hoping someone else had seen this before.

squidpop · May 5, 2015

I haven't seen this before but I wonder if there is an infection or abscess under the scabs- do you feel any lumps that might be an abscess under the scabs? I would be tempted to put just a drop of hydrogen peroxide on the scab with a small watercolour paint brush just to see if it dissolves it off. Maybe its just a sore there that has healed but the scab hasn't fallen off yet. Hmmm not sure.

JBun · May 5, 2015

It's actually pretty common for rabbits to get these fur plugs in their check area, due to build up from the sebaceous glands that are there. When a rabbit molts, these fur plugs will come out in the little clump that you see. Rabbits can also have these types of fur plugs from a scab that finally falls off, though the skin attached to the fur should look like a typical scab. As long as it's just that little plug and not a patch of fur loss, and your rabbit didn't have a wound in the area, I would suspect it is a fur plug from the gland.

However, I'm not sure why your rabbits would be green colored. All of the ones that I have seen have been a beige color, if I recall correctly. I know rabbits can sometimes get a greenish colored skin infection on their chin sometimes, when the fur is continually wet that allows for the bacterial growth. If your rabbit had drooling issues due to the dental problems, this may have caused the bacterial growth to occur, and would account for the green color, though usually this would be under the chin. Check the skin under the fur and if it is greenish colored this might be what is going on, and it would be good to discuss with your vet. It's also possible for this bacteria to be associated with pneumonia, so I don't know if this could be related to your rabbits URI or not. But this bacteria would only be if your rabbit had developed this due to ongoing wet fur in the area and you found the skin to have the greenish color. If not, then disregard this.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Moist/Moist.htm

doodlebugger · May 9, 2015

So, our vet thinks that they are just scabs and that the hair has grown through them. They are not too difficult to remove, and she said it is not causing the bunny any pain to remove them, so that is what she recommended we do. She thinks that our poor bunny might have had a small bout of staph infection on his face which caused the scabs. He was on Baytril for a few weeks, which she said wasn't strong enough to clear it up, so she gave him a shot of Flocillin, and then changed him over to Minocycline (instead of the Baytril) and now not only are these little things going away, but his URI is finally clearing up again. He has to go back for another shot of Flocillin next week, but I haven't seen any new green colored scabs this week, so hopefully whatever it was is going to be eradicated by the new antibiotics. We also had to put him on Baytril Otic drops for his ears because the scratching he was doing was not due to the stuff in his fur, but due to the URI getting in one of his ears. Poor little guy.

doodlebugger · May 21, 2015

Just a quick update on the scabby things - they were removed by us, no pain, left nothing behind, came out like the little plugs of fur do (he is starting a molt anyways), and they have not returned as of 11 days later.